Beware of Alex bearing gifts to win votes

SURELY only cynics would reckon that Alex Salmond’s new-found commitments to free school meals, to better child care and to getting more women into the workforce were nothing other than blatant vote-grabbing in advance of the independence referendum.

If so, then count me in. Yesterday may have been dressed up by the First Minister as a new caring, sharing approach to governing but few, other than his most devoted fans and one Liberal Democrat, believed it had nothing to do with winning over the votes of women, who have been singularly immune to Wee Eck’s charms.

As this column noted yesterday the latest YouGov opinion poll suggested that the “gender gap” in support for independence had doubled recently, with 37 per cent of men backing independence but only 24 per cent of women. The previous gap had been consistently around 6-7 per cent.

This fact prompted Nicola Sturgeon’s move from the health portfolio to take charge of the referendum campaign last autumn and also saw child care and a consequent increase in mothers returning to work given top priority – almost the only policy priority – in the SNP’s blueprint for independence five weeks ago.

The Deputy First Minister made much of these women-and-child friendly policies in her keynote speech at St Andrew’s University on Monday, in which she launched the Nats’ 2014 referendum campaign.

Then yesterday we had a £114million package from Mr Salmond, which included free school meals for every child from primaries one to three from next January and free child care provision from August next year for 27,000 two-year-olds in families in receipt of certain benefits.

The free school meals provision copies what’s already been announced by the Coalition at Westminster for English children but it was still hailed as a major development by the First Minister. And whilst, as well as the child care provision, it has the appearance of an extremely attractive package that’s not how it was seen by either Johann Lamont, the Labour leader, or Ruth Davidson of the Tories.

Ms Lamont said that Mr Salmond had been arguing for the break up of the UK for 40 years but had only recently taken an interest in child poverty and a fairer welfare system. She said he had been calling for independence whilst the Labour Party was “lifting children out of poverty”.

She added that his transformation from someone who approved of Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies into a child poverty campaigner suggested that he’d become “less Braveheart and more soccer mom”.

Ms Davidson said Mr Salmond had only recently “rediscovered” free school meals because the Coalition was doing it in London and claimed that both this policy and the extension of child care had been in the SNP’s manifesto for 2007, yet both were now being implemented in the year of the independence referendum.

In one of her more assured performances, the Tory leader said the nationalists were now telling people that they’d only get these new policies if they voted for independence, even though they could have been implemented at any time since 2007, when the SNP formed its first government. However, at least one opposition leader was on Mr Salmond’s side. Willie Rennie, the Lib Dem leader, and long-time campaigner for increased child care was completely bowled over by the First Minister’s largesse; indeed his fulsome speech of welcome couldn’t have been bettered by any backbench Nat acolyte.

His astonishing behaviour was compounded, finally, by his fervent hope that Mr Salmond wouldn’t use yesterday’s announcements to “win votes in the referendum.”. Oh no Willie, Alex Salmond would never do that.

My message for this gullible leader is a simple one: “Beware of Nats bearing gifts.”